Wading Into Darkness
by Bryanicus
Summary: Naofumi is saved from Malty's betrayal. But the world isn't done with him yet.


"The shield hero broke into my room drunk and tried to pin me down!" Myne said while desperately clinging to Motoyasu.

"You piece of scum! How dare you do that to a woman like her!" Motoyasu yelled at Naofumi, who was currently on his hands and knees pleading for his innocence.

Naofumi had been robbed and framed. The world he found himself in after reading "_The Records Of The Four Holy Weapons_" seemed like a dream at first but now felt more like a nightmare. No matter how hard he pleaded no one would hear him out. He felt his heart falling deeper and deeper into despair when suddenly, the doors of the throne room flew open. Standing there was a woman who looked to be about in her thirties with purple hair and a beautiful figure.

"Mirelia, you're home so soon! What happened?"the king said in a confused tone.

"I heard all about it, you had summoned all four legendary heroes at once. Do you have any idea on how much trouble you have caused..." she trailed off upon noticing the sight before her.

"What is going on here?!". She said with a mixture of confusion and anger then waved for the soldiers who were surrounding Naofumi to step away.

"Mama! The shield hero tried to rape me!" said Myne. Then a person dressed like a ninja appeared next to Mirelia and whispered something into her ear.

Mirelia hid her mouth behind a folding fan and said "The shadows have told me otherwise, you are fools to think I wasn't watching."

The king was frozen in shock.

"But Mama h-" "silence!" Myne was cut off by Mirelia.

"I, Mirelia Q. Melromarc declare the shield hero innocent of all charges and hereby demand the end of this trial and forbid my daughter Malty Melromarc from joining any of the hero's parties."

Mirelia walked up to Naofumi who was still very shocked and still on the ground from the events that had just transpired. "I am the queen of this country. I apologise for my absence. If you couldn't tell by what summoning all 4 heroes is not what was planned. Please take your time to recuperate and come see me in private.

After Naofumi recovered enough from the situation that had just unfolded, he was shown to a changing room where he had clothes prepared. It was a simple set consisting of a green cloak as well as a brown tunic. After he changed he was lead to a balcony where the queen stood waiting for him.

"Sir Shield Hero I apologise for any poor treatment that either my family or my people had given you also not being here to welcome you. You see I was off in a meeting trying to decide which countries should summon which heroes. Hoever" the queen curls her fist and continued "the church went behind my back and summoned all 4 heroes. With the mess they made it's a miracle I was able to get back to clean things up before someone declared war."

"Umm… we should probably introduce ourselves" said Naofumi after Mirelia's little rant.

"Of course my apologies, my name is Mirelia Q. Melromarc, queen of Melromarc."

"My name is Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero"

Remembering back to the night before Naofumi remembers Myne mentioning something about the county being matrilineal. "At least not everything she said was a lie." he thought.

"What was this about Myne being your daughter? Is that even her real name?"

"Myne is her adventurer name. Her real name is Malty and yes she is my daughter, however she has always been problematic and I made her younger sister priority for inheritance."

Naofumi chuckled a bit upon hearing that bit of information. Then the Queen spoke up again.

"From what I understand she stole all of your belongings. I will make the effort to reimburse you for what has happened. So please stay in castle town for the next couple of days while I prepare your things. I will also have a room prepared for you to stay in."

Naofumi is shocked at how up front she is being "Umm… thank you but I can't really attack so I need a companion."

"I already have someone in mind. They are one of the best fighters in the country and is certainly more trustworthy than my eldest daughter."

"I still can't thank you enough especially for getting me out of that situation."

"You are one of the legendary heroes summoned to save the world from the waves. I can't let anything bad happen to you. I'd suggest tomorrow you go to the dragon hourglass in the church so you can check the time until the next wave."

"Why tomorrow and not today?"

"They are getting new staff Today and will need time to understand their positions."

Naofumi suspected that there is a little more to it than what she let on, but if it was her advice it would be for the better if he'd heed it.

"Thank you for giving me your time Sir Shield Hero. I understand that Today has already been a long day. I'd recommend you spend the day exploring the city to get used to the surroundings. I have important matters to attend to so I'll be taking my leave"

Naofumi and the Queen left the balcony and Naofumi headed for the front gates. He felt so relieved after she had shown up to save him if only there was a way to repay her. Then he remembered his role as a hero and knew she did it because he was important if his reputation was ruined there was no telling how bad things would get.

He left to go explore the city taking note on important shops and other locations. While walking through town he noticed a few people sending him glares. "The news must have not gotten out about my innocence" he thought. He also quickly realized he needed to learn the world's language. In the evening Naofumi was exploring the sketchy side of town when a strange man approached him he was short stubby wearing a top hat and a suit.

"Hello there, I have a product you might be interested in." the strange man said whilst looking Naofumi over.

"Uh, what is said product?"

The man signaled Naofumi to follow him and Naofumi reluctantly obayed.

"I've heard you are in need of someone to fight for you."

They entered a large circus tent Naofumi caught a distinct smell of death inside and gagged at the sent.

"You still haven't answered my question." Naofumi spoke up in a more serious tone.

His remark was ignored and he was guided deeper into the tent. It had many cages stacked on top of each other.

Finally as they were nearing the back he got his answer when the man outright said "slaves."

Naofumi was clearly panicking upon hearing the term. Slaves existed in history back in his own world but in modern times keeping one was extremely terrible. These are all demi humans just letting you know.

"D-demi humans? What are they?" Naofumi asked nervously

"Demi humans are considered to be humanoid however they tend to have a hard time living here in melromarc and are often used as slaves."

He was looking around the area in horror and caught sight of something that completely broke his heart. A young girl who looked to be about 10. She was extremely skinny, She had scars and wounds all over her body and was wearing a tattered rag out it. She had fuzzy ears on her head that looked like a raccoon but the color was wrong, they were brown instead of black or grey. She also had a very puffy tail. Her pink eyes appeared hopeless like someone who had truly lost everything.

Just by looking at her he could tell she had suffered a lot. She was only a child, she shouldn't be locked up in a cage. Naofumi had to do something but what. He thought some possibilities to himself. He heard a jingle coming from his shield arm. An idea came to his mind that he was certain to work.

Naofumi pulled the 40 silver that wasn't stolen out and placed it into his pocket. He approached the cage where the girl was and asked about her price.

"Well as you could probably tell, she has her problems. She is starving for one, but she is also sick and has a mental disorder. She is also a raccoon type and they're not that popular. If she was a fox type I'd be able to get a good price for her even in this sorry state. So how about 30 silver?"

"I'll… take her." Naofumi said, unsure if what he was doing was right.

The girl gasped and began quivering as she was pulled out of her cage. Then let out a yelp as a collar was put on her and a leash attached. This served to guilt Naofumi even farther but he knew if he didn't do this she'd either die in there or end up with someone who had less than good intentions.

They went to the front of the tent where Naofumi was asked to give some of his blood. He reluctantly agreed and dripped some of his blood into a dish of ink. Then the slave trader dipped a paint brush in it and painted onto a magic circle on the girl's chest. She whimpered in pain as it began to glow.

"Don't worry, the pain will subside shortly" the slave trader tried reassure Naofumi who was sweating bullets from the stress.

A new box appeared on his status screens showing several rules to set. He quickly disabled all but the one against harming him.

"She's all yours now, so my payment." Naofumi was too worried about the girl and forgot about his payment. He quickly gathered the money from out of his pocket and placed it on the counter.

"Come again!" the slave trader remarked as he took her hand and brought her outside.

Naofumi stopped in a nearby alley way to get some fresh air. He quickly realized he never asked her name. "So what's your name?" Naofumi said in a gentle tone. "R-Raphtalia." she responded sounding very timid.

Thinking of things to do, Naofumi decided it would be best to talk to the blacksmith. He was more knowledgeable about the world and would probably be able to point him in the right direction. He also would probably sell them proper clothes for Raphtalia. They headed off in that direction.

As they were walking, he noticed Raphtalia trembling. He wasn't too surprised because she had no idea what he would do with her. He reached down and patted the top of her head. She flinched slightly upon his touch but quickly melted into the affection. Her ears were very soft and she seemed to like it has his hand passed over them.

When they went in the blacksmith was shocked at the sight he saw.

"I need to get her some proper clothes, I can't have her walking around dressed like that."

The blacksmith handed over a simple red and black dress with a little hole in it for her tail.

"How much?" Naofumi asked

"It's on the house I just need some explaining."

"Alright then."

Naofumi handed the outfit over to Raphtalia and directed her to go get changed. She went into the changing room and Naofumi could hear her coughing.

"So what do you want to know?"

"Well let's start with a rumor about you I've heard going around,"

"What is it then?"

"Well I've heard that you had raped the woman you had with you"

Naofumi cringed at the thought of her.

"Oh yeah that… I was framed but I was lucky enough for the queen to show up and save me. I don't know what would happen to me if it wasn't for her."

"Second, what's with the girl."

Naofumi had expected him to ask about her but explaining wasn't going to be easy.

"To start I was approached by a weird man who led me into a circus tent and introduced himself as a slave dealer. I panicked and when I saw her I knew I needed to get her out and buying her was the best way I could think of."

"I knew you weren't that terrible." The blacksmith muttered.

"I actually came here to ask for help with what I should do."

The blacksmith leaned on the counter and held his head up with his hand.

"First things first, an exclusively demi human issue. When they level up they grow. So, if you decided to level her up she will end up becoming an adult very quickly."

Naofumi hated the idea of stealing her childhood from her so this information was very nice to know.

"What else should I do?"

"Getting her fed would definitely be a good idea. She also seems sick so getting her medicine will be important as well. I'd also be on the lookout, there is no telling what being a slave would have done to someone her age."

Raphtalia came out of the changing room coughing then heard her stomach grumble.

"Come on, let's go get us something to eat."

"Alright." Raphtalia said timidly

The queen said she would support him. Feeding Raphtalia shouldn't be too much to ask for. The guards let them through the gate. Raphtalia's eyes sparkled as she saw the beauty of the castle. She never could have imagined she would be taken here of all places. She was still quite unsure of the situation. For all she knew she could end up being anything from a servant to being thrown back into the horrors she had only gotten out of a few days prior.

When they entered they were guided to a dining room. While they were walking Naofumi noticed a few people shooting looks in his and Raphtalia's direction. He also then realised that she should probably be given a proper bath. Her hair is also pretty crazy finding someone to cut it would also be a good idea.

They arrived in the dining room and sitting at the table was a woman she was dressed like a knight but wasn't wearing a helmet which exposed her long strawberry blonde hair.

"You're the shield hero. correct?" the woman asked not noticing Raphtalia, who was standing behind Naofumi.

"Yes, my name is Naofumi Iwatani."

Raphtalia was clearly confused upon hearing this. Reminiscing about the stories she heard about the shield hero and how he was always good to demi-humans.

"My name is Eclair Seayette," the woman replied to Noafumi's introduction.

Hearing her name snapped her out of her distracted state. The name was very familiar; Eclair was the daughter of the lord who governed the domain she used to live in. She felt relieved to know that someone will certainly protect her. However, her new master seemed to be very nice and showed no intention of harming her. Still she ran to Eclair with tears running down her face.

"Eclair!" Raphtalia yelled her name as she hugged her. In response Eclair crouched down to meet her embrace with her own.

"You were one of the ones from the territory, aren't you?" said Eclair who seemed to feel extreme guilt for the sorry state Raphtalia was in.

Raptalia nodded frantically. Eclair stood up and faced Naofumi.

"Where did you find her?!" she asked sounding very serious.

He started sweating bullets knowing if he said the wrong thing she could probably kill him.

"Well, uhh..." he was stuttering as he frantically searched for the right words.

"I… I bought her I had no other choice if I didn't she would die!"

"I see…" Eclair said to herself quietly.

"I wanted to protect her. I am a hero saving people is what I'm supposed to do."

"I understand," Eclair said while giving Raphtalia a pat on the head to help her calm down.

"The queen has chosen me to join your party. I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Um, master?" Naofumi cringed upon hearing that.

"Please just use my name, but what is it"

She nodded and continued with her question "You said you were the shield hero right?"

"Yes I was summoned to the world just a couple days ago. For now, let's sit down and wait for our dinner to arrive."

While they are waiting, Eclair noticed Raphtalia coughing a lot and gets some medicine from another room. She comes back before food arrives with a small bottle and hands it to Raphtalia. She takes a sip and gags. "It's so bitter." Eclair insists that she drinks it and she reluctantly gulps down the bottle.

Raphtalia's tail starts wagging as she sees the nice food set on the table.

"Are you sure it's ok?" Raphtalia asks

"Of course, go right ahead."

With that Raphtalia tries digging in with her bare hands.

"Don't use your hands, do it this way" Eclair schools and gives a demonstration on proper eating.

Naofumi chuckles a little at the two as he takes a bite of his food.

They wrap up dinner and head out to the baths before bed. Eclair also organized to get Raphtalia a hair cut after her bath.

He waded into the water and relaxed after such a strange day. He only hoped that the rest of the time he's in this new world doesn't go this weirdly. He couldn't be more thankful for the queen showing up when she did. Everything today seemed to work out perfectly.

However, there was the matter of Raphtalia. He had no idea where her family is or even if she has any. To be enslaved at such a young age, who knows what she has been through? He could only hope for a happy ending for her.

_**Meanwhile,**_

Raphtalia happily went into the bath, excited to finally be clean. Eclair, however, saw that Raphtalia's unclothed body was riddled with scars. Being there on the front lines, defending her territory, she knew what had happened. Seeing the soldiers of the country she served turn on its own people disgusted her to no end. All she can do now is fight to make this world better along with a hero. "These thoughts won't get me anywhere. Right now I should relax. These are all problems for later." she thought. She then went to go help Raphtalia wash up.

Raphtalia exited the room after getting her hair cut. Naofumi's heart melted as she spun around to show it off. With that, they left for their rooms. Since there was nothing prepared for Raphtalia, Naofumi allowed her to share a room with him. Finally being able to put this day behind him Naofumi hopped into bed with Raphtalia climbing into one that sat to his. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for the next day.


End file.
